Volume growth is a priority for newly listed eyewear retailer Lenskart, the company’s founder and chief executive Peyush Bansal said on Monday, after the company released its first quarterly results since going public. He noted that Lenskart‘s margins are being driven by factors such as vertical integration, an omnichannel model, reduced marketing expenses, and improved operating leverage.
“The operating leverage is coming from fundamental pillars of the business, including the Lenskart brand. It is not coming at the cost of growth,” Bansal told analysts during a post-earnings call.
In India, the company expects margins to improve further as it benefits from scale and increased backward integration, including with its upcoming Hyderabad facility, which will bring more frame manufacturing into the country.
Lenskart‘s product margin was 69.2% during the July-September period against 68.7% a year earlier.
The Gurgaon-based company reported a 21% year-on-year increase in operating revenue to Rs 2,096 crore for the July-September period in its first quarterly results as a public company. It also posted a 20% increase in net profit to Rs 103 crore.
The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) stood at Rs 414 crore for the second quarter of this financial year, 44% higher than Rs 287 crore a year ago.
Speaking about the capital expenditure for the new manufacturing facility, Bansal said a smaller portion will go towards civil infrastructure, which Lenskart is building ahead of demand since it takes about two and a half years. The larger share, which is machinery, will be added gradually based on how demand grows.
“Right now, we are investing in Hyderabad, but our Bhiwadi facility is already operating at 64% capacity. The Hyderabad plant is still 18-24 months away, and by then, utilisation will go up further. We do have capacity at present, but we must plan for the long term as demand is higher than our capacity,’ he added.
Last December, ET had reported that Lenskart plans to set up its largest eyewear manufacturing facility in Telangana, with an investment of about Rs 1,500 crore.
The company plans to triple its current capacity over the next three years to meet expected growth. Lenskart is targeting more than 450 net store additions in India during this fiscal year, compared to 282 in 2024-25, Bansal said.
The company debuted on the bourses on November 10 after a Rs 7,278-crore initial public offering, through which it raised Rs 2,150 crore in primary capital.
